Review: At the Circus

Kenny ‘Not R2D2’ Baker plays a circus owner and singer who gave up his inheritance for the circus that he is now in danger of losing the business to his no-good partner who wants to take over. Right-hand man Chico and assistant strongman Harpo (!) decide to call in a lawyer (Groucho) to help Baker out before he has to declare bankruptcy and lose the business. Margaret Dumont, as always, plays a rich socialite who cuts all ties with nephew Baker when he joins the circus racket. Florence Rice plays Baker’s romantic interest and singing partner. Eve Arden plays a circus performer named Peerless Pauline, whilst Fritz Feld turns up briefly as a pretentious conductor named Jardinet.

 

 

Much less irritating than the previous “A Night at the Opera” and “A Day at the Races”, this 1939 Marx Brothers comedy from director Edward N. Buzzell (the subsequent “Go West”) and screenwriter Irving Brecher (“Meet Me in St. Louis”, “Bye Bye Birdie”) is just ‘meh’. This one actually has a plot, a standard and ancient circus plot mind you, but hey, that at least gives it a leg-up over its immediate predecessors. Best of all, all three of the Marx Brothers play relatively clearly defined characters with specific roles in the plot, whereas in the two previous films they just seemed to be playing themselves (or playing the characters of The Marx Brothers, to be more precise) and going through the motions in between schticky bits. Having said that, they still on occasion manage to get in the way of the story to do their annoying comic ‘bits’, and by the end the plot seems to be thrown out altogether. Was the fucking crime even solved?

 

But let’s stay on the positive: At least the problems, whilst still evident, are somewhat lesser here. Sure, I still find Groucho in particular an annoyance, as even in this film he seems to be wanting to just get to his one-liners. But at least in this one, some of the humour is actually genuinely funny, even if very few of those moments are Groucho’s ‘zingers’. There’s a priceless bit where Harpo gets out of a taxi in the pouring rain walking with a seal. It’s so random you have to laugh. There’s a funny and once again weird bit where the seal helps Harpo to play checkers. I particularly liked the visual gag with Groucho and Chico entering the circus midget’s (Jerry Maren) trailer and it’s entirely fit to his size. The best gag in the film is when Harpo comes along with the world’s biggest match and matchbox! I hear the great Buster Keaton (a far more innovative comedian than the Marx Brothers, IMHO) was on hard times at this point and actually helped out with some of the gags in this film. Perhaps this sequence is evidence of that? I’m not sure, but it’s a possibility. On the downside, Groucho and Chico do an allegedly ‘comic’ bit where Chico won’t let Groucho on the train. Even though, according to the plot, he’s the one who invited him! Harpo plays his harp again and it’s as it was in the two previous films, except completely needless and senseless this time out. The musical interludes in general here are far more random and more annoying than previously.

 

I just don’t get the appeal of these guys or their poorly made films. The Marx Brothers seem to do everything they can to get in the way of the stories of their own films! Why did they even bother making movies if they clearly weren’t interested in storytelling? Film is a storytelling medium! This one’s a lot better on that front though, and is even funny on occasion. However, the problems are still there, the humour is inconsistent, and romantic leads Kenny ‘Not That One’ Baker (who talks like a girl!) and particularly Florence Rice are a couple of boring drips. Below par, but certainly better than its two predecessors. Fans will probably enjoy the heck out of it, though, and want to wring my neck. There’s quite a long waiting list for that, though, I’m afraid.

 

Rating: C